It is believed that the subject matter involved herein is classifiable in class 104, subclass 88 and/or 172.
Shallow or low profile conveyor systems have been proposed heretofore for use in connection with a tow vehicle. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,662. The present invention is an improvement over the system disclosed in that patent for the reasons to be set forth hereinafter. The present invention accomplishes its intended result at a lower cost and can be used in areas which will not permit the conveyor drive motor to be mounted below floor level. As shown in FIGS. 21-23 of said patent, the conveyor drive has substantial vertical height which is mounted below floor level and thereby is limited in the number of applications in which it can be accommodated.
The present invention is directed to a shallow conveyor system for use with tow vehicles and includes an endless tow conveyor chain which is mounted beneath a slot in a support surface such as a floor. The drive for the chain includes two idler sprockets adjacent said slot and a drive sprocket. All of said sprockets are disposed to one side of said slot. A motor is coupled to the drive sprocket.
The said sprockets are rotatable about parallel upright axes. The axes form a triangle with the base of the triangle being an imaginary line extending between the axes of the idler sprockets and generally parallel to the direction of the slot adjacent thereto. A portion of the chain extends from one idler sprocket to the drive sprocket and then to the other sprocket so that the portion of the slot adjacent said idler sprockets does not contain the chain. An auxiliary transfer mechanism adjacent said portion of the slot includes at least one movable finger synchronized with chain movement for transferring a tow pin along said portion of the slot.
The present invention in its preferred construction can be utilized in environments which are not adapted for having deep recesses to receive the conveyor drive. Thus, the entire floor recess for the entire system of the present invention is shallow whereby the system is low in cost. In a typical system utilized heretofore, it was necessary to provide a pit of a depth of one foot or more in the concrete floor. The need for such pits are eliminated by the present invention. Thus, in the present invention, the depth of the area containing the conveyor drive is no deeper than the remainder of the slot containing the chain whereby installation and maintenance are materially simplified and the cost of the same reduced.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shallow conveyor system for use with tow vehicles which is more economically constructed and less expensive to install or maintain as compared with the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor system having a conveyor chain which lacks a "hand" thereby minimizing problems in diverting from or merging thereto.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.